Most business groups dismissed health care reform’s tax credit for small employers as being too limited to be of much use, but Jim Houser is happy to get it.

Houser, the owner of Hawthorne Auto Clinic in Portland, Ore., expects to save $10,000 to $12,000 a year on his company’s health-insurance costs thanks to the tax credit. He hopes to use that savings to give raises to some of his nine full-time employees. Houser hasn’t been able to increase their pay in recent years because of the rising cost of health insurance. He wants to “show that they’re appreciated,” he said.

Other small-business owners are just beginning to look at how health care reform will affect them. Many of the changes won’t go into effect for a few years, but the tax credit is available now. White House officials estimate that 4 million businesses qualify for this tax break, and they’re promoting it through Web chats, postcards to small businesses from the Internal Revenue Service and workshops around the country.

Ever since the bill became law last month, “there’s been a real hunger” for information about what’s in the bill, said John Arensmeyer, CEO of Small Business Majority, an organization that supported the legislation. Arensmeyer’s organization has created a tax-credit calculator that businesses can use to determine how much money, if any, they can save through the tax credits.

The tax credit’s value depends on a company’s size and average wage. Businesses with 25 full-time employees or more aren’t eligible for the credit, nor are those that pay their employees more than $50,000 a year, on average. The full value of the credit — 35 percent of a premium costs — is available only to businesses with 10 or fewer full-time employees and an average wage of $25,000 or less.

The full value of the credit increases to 50 percent in 2014, when small businesses and individuals will be eligible to purchase coverage through new state-based insurance exchanges. The tax credit could disappear after 2015, however. The law allows eligible small businesses to claim the credit from 2010 through 2013, and then for any two years after that.

Some skeptical of impact

The tax credit’s limited reach and temporary life are two reasons why many business groups aren’t excited about it.

“It is both small and fairly rigid. I am skeptical that it will have much of an impact,” said Neil Trautwein, vice president and employee benefits policy counsel for the National Retail Federation.

Most groups that represent small businesses in Washington, D.C., contend the benefits of the tax credit are more than offset by the tax increases and coverage mandates in the health care reform law. Plus, to take advantage of the tax credit, a business must have posted a profit — and many small firms struggle to do that.

These business groups are informing their members about the tax credit — as well as other provisions in the new law — but they’re not promoting it.

“If we advise a small business to take the credit, what do we tell them two years after the exchange is in play, when the credit disappears?” said James Gelfand, a health care lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Houser, however, hopes that by the time his company’s tax credit expires, the competition created by the insurance exchanges will curb the rising cost of health premiums.

Self-employed must wait

Many small firms in high-cost areas or high-wage industries won’t be able to use the tax credits, said Scott Hauge, a business insurance broker in San Francisco who also is president of Small Business California. His own firm employs 29 people, but his average wage is too high to qualify for the tax credit.

Self-employed individuals also aren’t eligible for the credit. They won’t receive any benefits from health care reform until 2014, when the exchanges start operating and premium subsidies for individuals with less than $43,320 in income kick in.

Small Business Health Care Tax Credit

Amount of credit: Up to 35 percent of a firm’s premium expenses; increases to 50 percent in 2014Who qualifies: Employers with fewer than 25 full-time employees with average annual wages below $50,000Coverage required: Employers must pay at least 50 percent of the cost of single coverage for employees.Phaseouts: Full credit is available to employers with fewer than 10 employees and average annual wages of $25,000 or below; amount of credit phases out as number of employees and wage levels increase.Availability: Small businesses can claim the credit for 2010 through 2013 and for any two years after that.Nonprofits: Eligible for tax credit of up to 25 percentSource: Internal Revenue Service (www.irs.gov)